How To Fix “404 Not Found” WordPress Error

one of the most common problems It is a 404 Not Found WordPress error that appears for WordPress websites. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to solve compared to other WordPress errors. It’s rarely a sign of a serious problem, but it can still have a negative impact on the user experience. Error can happen when accessing theme assets (images, CSS or JS files) and pages. Most of the time, it appears in WordPress posts. The error message can vary, but it usually includes the following statements: not found, not found, Error 404 or just 404.

In this article, we will guide you through solutions that are known to help this error. They are not limited to just posts – you can apply them in any situation when the 404 Error occurs.

A little tip before we start: 404 Errors are nearly impossible to avoid, as it’s also important to improve the user experience when they happen. You can do this by customizing the appearance of your 404 Error page. Some themes, such as the ones we offer at Qode Interactive, offer these customization options, while others require the use of third-party plugins.

Here is an example of a customized 404 page.

In this article, we’ll cover the following troubleshooting options:

Front Steps

Before looking for the cause of the problem, make sure the error is not just temporary. While it may seem unnecessary, we strongly recommend that you take these preliminary steps before diving into the more complex ways of dealing with the 404 Error.

Removing Invalid Links

Sometimes, a admin user or site editor deletes an article and moves its content elsewhere, but don’t forget to remove the broken link from the site’s menu. This is one of the more common causes of the 404 Error. In this case, all that needs to be done is to remove or edit the menu links that lead to non-existent posts. Do the same for broken page URLs.

To remove invalid links, go to: View > Menus and select the menu in use.

Find the invalid menu item and shilling.

click Save Menu to save changes

Then you can add a new menu link with the appropriate URL and Drag it to the position you want in the menu.

Remove typos

Typos are another common cause of 404 error. Make sure the page/post URL is spelled correctly, especially if you’re typing manually. For example, adding your site-name/blof instead of your site-name/blog may cause an error, so be sure to check carefully.

Clearing the Cache

In browser troubleshooting, it is also recommended that you: make sure the error is not due to caching. Clear the browser cache and try to access the page, post or theme asset once again. You can also access it from another browser or from an incognito window inside your current browser.

Resolving the Error

In browser troubleshooting, it is also recommended that you: make sure the error is not due to caching. Clear the browser cache and try to access the page, post or theme asset once again. You can also access it from another browser or from an incognito window inside your current browser.

Also, create a backup of your WordPress site. If you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself, ask your hosting provider to do it for you.

Saving Permalinks

If the entire site has 404 Errors, it is most likely due to a permalink issue. In WordPress posts, it happens when you click to view a post. This can be quite frustrating, especially after creating a post and adding all the content.

If you are having this problem, don’t worry. Your post is still there and all you have to do is update your permalinks. Set route to Settings > Permalinks and click on Save Changes In the lower left corner of your screen.

Problems displaying posts are often caused by changes in a permalink information. custom post type. Other than that, most premium themes default post typesoffers its own post types. They may also include the option to change the permalink information of this custom post type.

Qode Interactive themes offer this option. The option included with these themes has a note that states: After entering the info entry, go to Settings > Permalinks and click Save for the changes to take effect..

Using a plugin to change the permalink information of a custom post type is a common cause of the problem, especially for themes that lack permalink options. If you are using this type of plugin, be sure to update your permalink settings after changing the slug..

Creating a Default .htaccess File

Another way to resolve 404 Error is edit manually .htaccess file. This solution requires an FTP client such as FileZilla and knowledge of editing files via FTP.

Since the .htaccess file is a hidden server configuration file, enable viewing hidden files in selected FTP client. To do this in FileZilla go to the Server tab and Force show hidden files.

After setting the options, go to the root of your WordPress site, locate the .htaccess file, right click on it and select Edit View.

Before editing, download the file and save this version on your computer as a backup. You can see the download option in the screenshot.

To restore the default .htaccess file, add the following code and save the file. Upload it to the server by overwriting what’s currently there.

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

run a test To see if the error has been resolved. if not, reload the stored backup version of the file.

If you are having trouble applying this solution due to insufficient file permissions, Temporarily change the permission of the .htaccess file to 666. Right-clicking on the .htaccess file from the FTP client of your choice and File permissions.

Then manually enter 666 in the numeric value box and OK.

After changing the file permission, restore the default .htaccess file as we described earlier.

When you’re done, Reverting permission of .htaccess fileIt could be 644 or 660.

Additional Troubleshooting Steps

In rare cases, none of the solutions we describe will fix the problem. For these cases, here 2 additional steps known to successfully fix issues Common WordPress errors.

disabling mod_security

Mod_security is open source software used for site protection and access control. This is achieved using specific rule sets i.e. ModSecurity Core Rule Set or self made rule sets.

However, mod_security rules are known to give quite a few false positives regarding daily use of a WordPress site. Then, you need to make certain rule set exclusions. This can be difficult if you are applying a large number of rules, so the best way to deal with this issue is to temporarily disable mod_security altogether.

This can be done Editing your .htaccess file via FTP. Add the following code at the top of your .htaccess file.

<IfModule mod_security.c> 
SecFilterEngine Off 
SecFilterScanPOST Off 
</IfModule>

Then test to see if the issue is resolved. If not, remove the code to avoid creating security issues.

Disabling Plugins and Theme

Since it’s important to be comprehensive, testing your plugins and theme should be included in every troubleshooting. Disable your plugins one by one. Try accessing the page, post or theme asset after each deactivation.

If the error is resolved, the last disabled plugin is the culprit.

If you skipped backing up your site at the beginning of troubleshooting, don’t skip it at this point. Go on switch your theme to a default theme (for example, Twenty Twenty) and run the test. If the error disappears, the source of the problem is your theme. In this case, contact the theme’s customer support for further assistance.

final thoughts

Besides solving your problem, you had the opportunity to learn how your website works. Keep this tutorial on how to fix 404 Not Found WordPress errors in your bookmarks as you will encounter the error again. Be totally ready next time it happens!